> can you speak to some of your motivations for putting your life savings into these kinds of vehicles?

For sure. My rationale was that keeping crypto in cold storage was effectively currency speculation and didn't really do anything to add value to the world. By instead keeping it in an interest-earning account it could be earning interest independent of the exchange rate with USD and providing some value to the world in the form of liquidity and loans.

It's the same rationale I use to justify keeping money in VTSAX instead of under my mattress.